


The world is changing

by Starrie_Wolf



Series: A Turn of Fate [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Established Relationship, Interlude, M/M, UraIchi Events Prompt Challenge #4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:14:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21790639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrie_Wolf/pseuds/Starrie_Wolf
Summary: They’ve been doing this for so long that Kisuke has no idea how to wake up in a world where he doesn’t need to prioritise the Hōgyoku over his family.Interlude: the day after Aizen's defeat.
Relationships: Kurosaki Ichigo/Urahara Kisuke
Series: A Turn of Fate [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1097295
Comments: 22
Kudos: 792
Collections: UraIchi Prompt Challenge #4





	The world is changing

**Author's Note:**

> UraIchi Event Prompt Challenge #4  
> Prompt: 035. Tea at Dawn
> 
> Warning for mild dissociation at the start.
> 
> Title from another quote by Ichigo: "Revolving. And each time it's touched by the light of the sun and moon... the world is always changing into something new."

It’s a habit, now, for Ichigo to rise with or slightly before the sun. Even though he doesn’t attend Karakura High himself, school is still a big part of his morning routine, between his sisters and the others living under his roof, and nothing is messier than getting a bunch of teenagers ready for school each morning.

It takes him a few moments to realise that one, it’s the summer holidays, there’s no school. Two, the reason why he’s feeling so out-of-sorts is because the bedsheets are chilly against his bare skin, and the reason why he isn’t wearing his usual sleep robe is because –

Ichigo sits bolt upright.

The other side of the bed is empty, which his sleep-addled mind hadn’t registered as being weird, because Kisuke claimed that he worked best in the early pre-dawn hours – but it makes no sense now. Aizen died yesterday, and his Hōgyoku was destroyed, freeing the countless souls trapped within. There’s no reason for Kisuke to be in the lab at this hour.

He looks around, and blinks.

On the bright side, Kisuke isn’t toiling away in the lab. On the flip side, however, he’s just sitting there silently on the porch, leaning against the door frame. Ichigo can’t tell if he’s awake or asleep, and he doesn’t like it either way.

“Ki –” Ichigo coughs, clearing his throat, and then tries again. “Kisuke?”

There’s no answer.

Ichigo steels himself, and then peels the duvet off. The chill of the night air seeping through the open porch doors makes him shudder, hard, and he doesn’t want to think about how long Kisuke’s been sitting there in the open like that. The wards on their private porch ensures their safety, but it does nothing to protect them from the elements.

Especially with how unseasonably cold it is, like Rukia had accidentally unleashed her bankai again. Ichigo has no idea what’s going on, but first, he has to get Kisuke indoors.

Kisuke blinks slowly when Ichigo begins to drag him into the bedroom, but offers neither help nor resistance. Ichigo bites back a curse, slamming the porch door shut with his foot. It does nothing much for the temperature in the room, but at least it keeps the wind – picking up rapidly, howling in a manner that Ichigo is rather uncomfortable with, given that it’s supposed to be summer – out.

“Kisuke, hey,” he coaxes, trying to get Kisuke to lie down. His skin is icy cold, but the colour’s normal, and there’s no sign of frostbite on his extremities. Which means his unresponsiveness isn’t due to the temperature, it’s because –

Ichigo sighs. With the aid of a few pillows, he’s able to prop Kisuke up against the headboard and pull the duvet over him. He’s seen this happen before, once or twice. He’s not even surprised that it’s surfacing today, although he does wish that the timing could be better. Kisuke had probably woken up for the same reason as he did, come to the same realisation, gone out onto the porch to clear his head so that he doesn’t wake Ichigo by accident, and then gotten lost inside his own head. Which means that the weather had been normal a few hours ago; Kisuke is many things, but not inconsiderate. He wouldn’t have left the porch door open if it had been that cold.

It being summer, supposedly, their kotatsu is in the storage room. Ichigo doesn’t really want to leave Kisuke like this, but he’s also about as safe as he can be right now. He needs to –

 _Get a grip_ , he tells himself. He’s an adult, he knows what needs to be done.

It still feels like a betrayal anyway to turn his back on Kisuke’s still form, to fumble for the first article of clothing he can find – one of Kisuke’s green samues, the irony – and to walk out of the bedroom, pulling the obi secure across his waist. He leaves the door ajar as a concession, allowing himself one last peek. Kisuke hasn’t moved, of course.

He had intended to hurry to the store room for the kotatsu and back, but he doesn’t expect to see a light on in the kitchen as he passes by. None of the kids should be up at this hour, which leaves –

Tessai is standing at the stove, a kettle boiling away, but he’s frowning thoughtfully at the sky outside the kitchen window. Ichigo takes a look too, slightly alarmed by the darkening sky and the snowflakes he can now see drifting down.

Aizen doesn’t have the power to throw them into eternal winter after his death, does he...

“Shachō.” Tessai inclines his head in greeting. He doesn’t look like a man facing the end of the world, but then, he has a really good resting stoic face.

“Good morning,” Ichigo replies, and then has to ask, “do you know what’s with the weather?”

“A temporary meteorological instability,” Tessai answers, and Ichigo lets go of the tension he hasn’t even realised he’s been carrying. “A small price to pay in exchange.”

So it _is_ related to Aizen’s death, huh...

Ichigo stamps down on another flare of worry. Tessai is not the kind of man who will sugar-coat his words; if he declares it is temporary, it must truly be so.

"How is Tenchō?"

Ichigo shakes his head. "He's not having a good day," he admits. "I'm getting a kotatsu."

Tessai inclines his head in both understanding and gratitude. "Then I shall set aside some food for when he feels well to eat."

Ichigo nods back, but the kettle, now whistling, gives him another idea.

Moments later, he staggers through the door into their bedroom, balancing a full teapot and two cups precariously atop their kotatsu. Electric, of course, because charcoal smoke is not great for the lungs _and_ runs the risk of burning down the entire Shōten. He plugs it in, turns the heat on, and then gets back into bed.

When Ichigo slides between Kisuke and the headboard, he notes that Kisuke is already warming up, which is good. He wraps his arms around Kisuke’s waist, pulling Kisuke’s back flush against his chest, leans back against the wall, and waits.

Ichigo has no idea how long it’s been before Kisuke finally stirs. Judging from the howling outside, the weather has developed into a raging snowstorm, but Ichigo can’t sense any reiatsu that would make it a cause for concern.

He presses his lips to one stubbly cheek. Kisuke makes a vaguely inquisitive noise, before his attention is caught by the howling of the wind outside.

“Yeah,” Ichigo comments, “that started a while ago.”

“… ah.” Kisuke clears his throat. He doesn’t apologise for blanking out on the porch, which is an improvement over the last few times Ichigo’s caught him at it, but there is a vaguely sheepish slant to his shoulders.

“Tessai-san said it’s due to Aizen’s death?” Ichigo prompts.

Kisuke hums in assent. “The Soul King’s Palace is the lynchpin holding our three worlds together,” he explains, sounding far more himself. “With the amount of destruction we wreaked in there yesterday, it would’ve been more surprising for there to be no aftershocks.”

He falls silent again. From the little Ichigo can see of his face, his gaze is faraway, but not blank.

Ichigo squeezes his waist in silent support. He gets it, he really does. Aizen’s been such a huge part of their lives for so long that even Ichigo is having some trouble figuring out how to wake up in a world where he’s no longer an issue – never mind Kisuke, who’s been doing this for over a century.

But Aizen’s dead, and they’re not.

“I brought tea,” Ichigo says, but he doesn’t make a move to get it. It’s probably lukewarm by now.

He almost doesn’t catch sight of the crinkle of amusement at the corner of Kisuke’s eyes before Kisuke works one hand free from the pile of duvets and –

“Did you just use a fire kidō to heat up the tea?”

Kisuke grins. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes, yet, but it’s getting there. He hands Ichigo a steaming cup of tea in lieu of an answer, his shoulders losing some of the tension they’ve been holding since… forever, if Ichigo is honest.

Outside, the summer snowstorm rages on, erasing the last of Aizen’s influence from existence.

Inside, well… they’re working on it. But they’ll get there eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> [cywscross's UraIchi Discord server](https://discordapp.com/invite/ADFnKTZ#_=_) | [Starrie's fic sneak preview server](https://discord.gg/8yJVmbD) | [Starrie's Tumblr](http://starriewolf.tumblr.com/)


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